Construction Cost - Building a home. (house, cost of, storage)

[Sandpointian]

And it sure gets expensive to do all that stuff retroactively. Either that or impossible depending on how construction went.

[Clark Fork Fantast]

Originally Posted by banjomike

Yup.
If you plan to live in the country, it's best to know where it's best on the land you bought to situate your home. Things like drainage may not be thought of as a big deal in July, but they can be a big deal in March.

Knowing how the snow drifts on a property can be a vital consideration for getting out to the road in mid-winter.

The more time a person spends camping out on their little piece of paradise and gets to know it at all times of the year, the closer to paradise it will be when the home is built, especially one intended for year-round use.

^^^ We stayed in our travel trailer on our property for two summers before deciding on a building site--which ended up being completely different from our original idea. We just moved that trailer around until we found the right spot. Morning light, prevailing winds, rain puddles, etc. We had to guesstimate the effects of winter, but we had great advice from neighbors and our local builder. We had plans of building a guest cabin and a pole barn first, but we realized that then we might never build the actual house/cabin! So we put the available limited funds toward the cabin. With a construction loan we could have had more freedom to make really smart plans--pole barn, garage, guest cabin, 2 driveways, etc--but we're trying to have a debt-free retirement home, and we're not wealthy. So additional plans will have to wait until the cabin is finished. We're telling our contractor that he will have part-time job security for years to come .

[coginthewheel]

Originally Posted by Nushagak

We are relocating to northern Idaho, Sandpoint area. We will be building a new home. Has anyone on the forum built recently in the last year or so in this area? Can you give us a ballpark figure per sq foot for a semi-custom home?

Thank you.
Nush.

We bought a fixer-upper last fall in Sandpoint area. With the sale of our home we were able to buy the property and afford 120k remodel which includes a older Ford 555 backhoe.

This has been much better than building which we did on our last home. All the driveway,done. All the landscape,done. Outbuildings, done. etc,etc.

Think about it.

[Sandpointian]

We basically took a basic house and have tried to turn in into our castle, albeit a modest one. It has been an education. I look back in amazement how absolutely clueless I was at the time of purchase. Expenses aside, we were very fortunate that there were not fundamental, irreconcilable problems with the house.

We had a generic inspection at the time of purchase. What is really needed is a thorough go through with a contractor familiar with DIY and Sandpoint building.

When we have faced an issue, we kind of do what a dentist does with a root canal/crown: widen the area, remove all the decay, build a platform, and install the new so that the tooth is better than ever.

Like CFF, we have kept many good people employed through the Great Recession!

Whilst we have no intention of building a custom home (as our house is getting there on its own), when I think of my kids, all the lessons learned come flooding back.

For all you contractors, DIY stars, your eyes so easily can translate a given lot or house into what you want. For folks like myself, i took many years and projects before I fully appreciated just how much I did not and still do not know. But at least now, I can hold a decent conversation and ask questions at the right time.

[Cavalry_Chief]

Great comments from all. This is why I find these forums so useful.

Originally Posted by javatom

Log homes are some of the most expensive to build compared to other types of construction. The "shell" can at times be only about 25 to 35 percent of the total cost. Build a log structure because you like the look not because you think it will save money (they do look nice).

I am already planning on the shell being around the 25% range. Fortunately, this is a no finance build, completely paid in cash. Even factoring a reserve, because everything is more expensive than expected.

Originally Posted by Cnynrat

Log homes also come with higher maintenance requirements. Some of that can be DIY, such as annual washing with a pressure washer. But you will probably find some parts of the house will need to be refinished fairly often. We have one SW facing wall, and a SE facing wall that get a lot of sun, and they get refinished every 1 or 2 years.

Planning for maintenance costs as well. Our decision for a log home is more for the aesthetics, with a full understanding of the associated costs. Also, going to use good stains and sealers as well as significant overhangs on the South and West sides of the home (covered porches and deck).

Banjomike and Sandpointian make very good suggestions about living on the property before building. Part of the reason we are deferring the build until April 2019 is for that reason. Fortunately, our property already has a well, septic, power and shop with an apartment. So, we'll have a good opportunity to evaluate the new build location.

The cost of building a new home is far more complex than just the $$$ spent.

[ApePeeD]

My mom contracted the building of our home and saved quite a bunch of money. But it took a lot of sweat and tears.

[forzalugano]

This builder site can give you a good idea of floor-plans and the cost to build by area as well.

Lexar Homes Collections | Single Story - Multi Generational - House Plans

[Sandpointian]

for those interested in building, it is really worth finding a house being built in your area and watching what gets done, how, when and why. I have learned so much watching local crews and gained much admiration. I have also had a couple of horror stories, each of which struck me as odd from the beginning and only got worse from there.

To a large extent you get what you pay for, both in terms of labor quality and quality of building materials.

Cheap houses that get slapped up in subdivisions in the middle of a housing boom show their lack of quality almost immediately. But they do lower the entry cost--which is why I suppose, they are ideal as starter homes.

[javatom]

The lexar homes is NOT a good example. Those are production houses. They build many of the same model over and over. A custom home is considerably higher in cost. I have had clients take longer to decide on a final version of the plans than some of these production houses take to build. Lexar seems to be a good company though.

[Mister Torgue]

I wanted to update this thread to ask if anyone has recently built a custom home with medium/low to medium priced finishing options with either steel or stick frame? I'm curious to see what the current cost per square foot ranges are for actual finished new homes built. My research I conducted was using older price data so I need a fresh set of data. Thank you in advance folks.

Originally Posted by forzalugano

This builder site can give you a good idea of floor-plans and the cost to build by area as well.

Lexar Homes Collections | Single Story - Multi Generational - House Plans

I wanted to thank you for this link. While we prefer a to build custom steel home I am glad to see there are quality options if we decide to go another route. These plans on Lexar's site are pretty well appointed and well priced for what they are. And it is good to know that @javatom had something positive to say about them. I welcome others' feedback on this and or other similar builders.